Snowman9000
IL
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Joined: 01/07/2009
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We have about six 120v breakers. The water heater is on its own breaker among those six. It seems like the water heater is causing other breakers to trip before its own trips, sometimes. When this happens, the whole bank of breakers is fairly hot. Not scalding, but hotter than they should be.
Sometimes, the actual water heater breaker trips, instead of another breaker. Again, the whole bank of breakers will be hot. When one of the other breakers trips, there has not been anything significant running on that circuit. So it seems to be related to using the electric water heater. If we run the heater on propane, no problems at all. Could the heat from the water heater breaker be causing another breaker to overheat and trip?
My first step will be to remove and check the heater element when we get home. I do have an ohmmeter, so if anyone has a resistance number, I can check it in place here in the CG.
Or could this be a low voltage problem? I have a volt meter plugged in and haven't seen anything unusual, but who knows.
2004 Chevy D/A 2WD Crew Cab. Reese 15K slider hitch.
2004 Crossroads Cruiser 28RL 5er. Honda EU2000i.
1993 Jayco Eagle RKS 265 5er
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NORM WADDELL
PENSACOLA FL 32514
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Joined: 11/16/2000
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Your circuit breakers are tripped
by HEAT........some industrial breakers
are tripped by magnetic force, but yours
are tripped by HEAT.....Remove all electrical
power from the RV, and tighten ALL connections
in the breaker panel.........incoming, outgoing,
hot, neutral, ground. Possibly you have a
loose connection (or several), especially
the one feeding the water heater. The loose
connection causes HEAT.....could cause other
breakers to trip.
L NORMAN WADDELL
30 FOOT ALLEGRO
SATURN TOAD
WIFE AND 2 DOGS SUGAR BEAR & COCO BEAR
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dougrainer
Carrolton, Texas
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Joined: 06/11/2007
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Your sig shows a 1993 Jayco which will have 30 amp service
1. The W/H pulls about 11 amps and will NOT pull excess amps
2. The refer pulls 3 amps
3. The Power Converter pulls about 2 to 3 amps depending on the 12 volt load
4. So, we are at 16 to 17 amps with NOTHING else be used. You have 13 amps available.
5. Turn on the Roof AC and you are overloaded for 30 amp
6. Turn on a 1500 watt 120 radiant floor heater and you are overloaded for 30 amp service
7. Turn on a Coffee maker or 120 skillet and you are just about at 28 to 29 amps
8. LINE VOLTAGE IS CRITICAL. Low voltage will increase the amp draw and cause a heat buildup at the breaker panel
9. The other breakers should NOT be warm or hot. What you probably have is LOOSE Neutral or BLACK Hot connections on the breakers or the MAIN input wires to the breaker buss panel.
10. YOU NEED TO HAVE IT PROFESSIONALLY CHECKED. IT IS A DANGEROUS CONDITION THAT YOU DESCRIBE. Doug
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Joined: 01/05/2005
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I would suggest checking the neutral conductor terminations in the AC power distribution panel.
Disconnect from shorepower.
Disconnect clean, apply some electrical de-oxidation grease and reterminate.
Bud
USAF Retired
Suzuki XL7 pushing Pace Arrow
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BB_TX
McKinney, Texas
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Joined: 04/04/2005
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As noted above. I did not have any problems with mine. But I decided to check connections any way. Found many screws loose on the distribution panel; hot, neutral, ground, 12 volt. Turn off all power, disconnect your power cord or turn off pedestal power, remove the cover on your distribution panel, and check ALL connections.
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Gene&Ginny
North Kingstown, RI
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Joined: 03/16/2004
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It would help to know WHAT water heater you have to know what the "ohms" reading should be.
FWIW: I had a problem with my water heater tripping the breaker after 10 to 15 minutes. The breaker was hot to the touch as were those above it. That whole summer I used only LP for water heating thinking I had a bad heater element. On a hunch I moved the wire to a different breaker as a test and no problems tripping and no hot breakers. Replacing the breaker was the permanent solution.
Gene and DW Ginny
2008 Toyota 4Runner 4.7L V8 w/factory towing option
2002 Sunline Solaris Lite T2363
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eHoefler
ozark mountains
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You may have an open or bad common on the pedestal as well.
2010 Ram 3500, Crew Cab, Long bed, 4 x 4,Dually, Lights & Siren!
2006 40' Landmark Mt. Rushmore
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Snowman9000
IL
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Joined: 01/07/2009
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Gene&Ginny wrote:It would help to know WHAT water heater you have to know what the "ohms" reading should be.
Atwood 10 gallon DSI.
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Snowman9000
IL
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I will check for loose connections tomorrow in daylight, thanks.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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Put the water on propane and see how it does for 24 hours.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675 watts solar
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